Port Vale manager Neil Aspin says he is looking at the possibility of recruiting free agents, but says that is far from ideal.

The Valiants can’t loan or sign players from other clubs until the transfer window opens in January. That means the only players they could bring in are free agents who weren’t registered with a club when the last transfer window closed on August 31.

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Aspin explained: “I am a big believer that to give your best on the pitch you need to play games and be match fit. A lot of free agents haven’t played any football so if you bring them in they are going to have to get themselves fit and up to speed to start with before you even consider playing them.

“So, that is a problem. Ideally you would rather have your own players who you are working with and have spent pre-season with. But certainly if there was somebody who came up who could do a job, you would consider anyone like that.”

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Aspin's first priority since he was appointed Port Vale manager last Wednesday has been to assess the 33 players in his squad. He was at Rotherham's training ground yesterday to watch Vale's reserves win 2-0 against the Millers thanks to first-half goals from Joe Davis and Tom Anderson.

Second-from-bottom Vale return to action on Saturday when they are at home to Cheltenham Town.